Bomb hidden in fridge kills one, wounds eight in bus park in Nigeria’s Kano

KANO (Reuters) – A bomb hidden in a refrigerator killed one and wounded eight at a crowded bus park in northern Nigeria’s biggest city of Kano on Thursday, police said.

Ike Chuku, a local trader who witnessed the blast, told Reuters by telephone that emergency services had arrived to rescue the wounded from the New Road bus park in Sabon Gari, an area of the mostly Muslim northern city with a high population of Christian southerners.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Islamist group Boko Haram has repeatedly targeted Kano, historically a medieval Islamic caliphate and a hub for trade across the Sahara.

It is one of many targets well outside the group’s main area of operations that has seen a surge in attacks as the militants radiate violence outwards from the northeast.

At least 82 people were killed on Wednesday in two suicide bombings in the north Nigerian city of Kaduna, one aimed at opposition leader and ex-president Muhammadu Buhari and another at a moderate Muslim cleric about to lead a crowd in prayer.

A suicide car bomber killed five people on a street of popular bars and restaurants in May.

A bomb blast in the same park killed at least 15 in July last year. The area is an obvious target for Boko Haram, since it has a high number of Christian ethnic Igbos from the south. Boko Haram regard all non-Muslims as enemies.

A suicide car bomber killed five people on a street of popular bars and restaurants in May.

The insurgents, who are fighting for an Islamic state in Africa’s top oil producer, have repeatedly targeted civilians, mostly in remote northeastern Borno state. They killed more than 2,000 civilians during the first half of this year, Human Rights Watch estimated a week ago.

(Reporting by Nneluke Ikemfuna; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)